Getting started with Migrate for Compute Engine

This how-to guide walks you through the high level, end-to-end deployment steps to set up Google Cloud Migrate for Compute Engine (formerly Velostrata) and migrate your VMs to Google Cloud.

About Migrate for Compute Engine

Migrate for Compute Engine gets enterprise applications running in Google Cloud within minutes, while data migrates transparently in the background. With Migrate for Compute Engine, enterprises can validate, run, and migrate applications into Google Cloud without rewriting them, modifying the image, or changing management processes.

For more information on the Migrate for Compute Engine solution architecture, capabilities, and terminology, see the Google Cloud reference architecture.

Review requirements for migration

Review the requirements for migrations from your source platform.

Set up a migration environment

Before you migrate, you set up a migration environment that includes network configuration, a migration manager to coordinate migration, configuration about your source platform, and Cloud Extensions as a destination-side conduit for storage data.

Configure network and access

Before you can begin deploying Migrate for Compute Engine components, configure networking and service accounts to allow communication between Migrate for Compute Engine components and your source platform.

Set up the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager

Deploy the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager to provide a way for you to select the VMs you want to migrate, select migration operations, and manage migrations.

Configure your source platform as a source for migration

Set up a Cloud Extension

Install one or more Cloud Extensions in Google Cloud. These act as a conduit for VM storage between the migration source and destination.

Migrate your first VM

After the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager and Cloud Extension are configured and operational, you're ready to start migrating VMs to Compute Engine.

Instructions for some of the most common operations can be found in the following links:

Getting help

Stuck on your deployment? Reach out so we can help.

Other import options

Besides using Migrate for Compute Engine, you can add VM instances, custom images, or disks that are available in an existing environment, such as on-premises or on other cloud providers, to Compute Engine.

Choosing an import method depends on whether you are importing a VM instance, disk, or image.

The following table summarizes import methods in addition to Migrate for Compute Engine.

What you want to import Tool or procedure Best used for
VM instances (in OVA or OVF format) Importing virtual appliances Importing virtual appliances. A virtual appliance is a prepackaged virtual machine.
Virtual disks or images
Importing virtual disks
Importing virtual disks or template disks from an on-premises environment.

This method uses the images import command.

If you need to make advanced customizations or have source disks in a format that is not supported by the import command, you can manually import and configure disks.
Machine images Creating a machine image from a virtual appliance Importing machine images. A machine image is Compute Engine resource that stores all the configuration, metadata, permissions, and data from one or more disks required to create a VM instance.

This method is best suited for creating machine images from virtual appliances.